Jim’s Magic Missile: Go Big or Go Home

Usable By: Wizard

Spell Level: 1

School: Evocation

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 120 feet

Duration: Instantaneous

Components: V, S, M (1 gold coin, which is consumed as tax for using the spell)

You create three twisting, whistling, hypoallergenic, gluten-free darts of magical force. Each dart can target a creature of your choice that you can see within range. Make a ranged spell attack for each missile. On a hit, the missile does 2d4 force damage.

If the attack roll scores a critical, the missile does 5d4 force damage instead of the 4d4 force that you would normally get on a critical. If any of the attack roll is a natural one, all missiles turn around and hit the caster for 1 force damage per missile.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the spell creates one more dart for each slot level above 1st. This also increases the tax by 1 gp per spell slot over 1st.

Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold

Magic Missile: 1d4+1 force damage, three times, wherever you want 'em. Simple. Elegant. No risk. Powerful. Jim’s Magic Missile: three attack rolls with 2d4 damage but they crit for 5d4 and if any of them critically miss you get exploded! Wacky! Unpredictable! Potentially nuts, potentially horrible! Which would YOU choose?

Honestly, I’m a huge fan of Jim’s Magic Missile. It takes an iconic spell, deviates enough from it to justify its existence, and bumps up the power in exchange for taking a huge risk. Most of the time, this is going to be dealing a bit more than a regular 1st level Magic Missile; 4d4 is about the same as 3d4+3, so you only need two to hit to break even. Three hits is all upside at that point, and critting with any of them makes this spell hit like a BUS. Critically missing, on the other hand, has consumed a 1st level spell (and a gold piece) to deal 3 damage to yourself. You’re just as likely to crit as you are to miss, but you only need one out of three to critically miss to end the entire effect.

This kind of variance is clear on the spell; you know exactly what you’re signing up for when you cast Jim’s Magic Missile, and I’m confident over a low level game it’ll deliver on the variance it promises. 3d20 at a time results in three times the crits and crit misses, and when advantage gets thrown into the mix, you can maximize your chances at an amazing, absurdly high damage output while minimizing the chances of it blowing up in your face. If you’re looking for wacky, wild, unpredictable magic, Jim’s Magic Missile is a great place to start.

5e Spells

Jim’s Magic Missile: Go Big or Go Home